Free Security Software Programs

Useful programs for your computer

If you are on the internet, you need to protect your computer. These are some of the best personal firewalls and Internet security products and services that are available free for personal use. The inclusion of any software package in this list is not an endorsement of the software. You must decide whether the particular software package is right for you.

Personal Firewalls
A firewall can be any of a number of security schemes that prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to a computer network or that monitor transfers of information to and from the network.

Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall - PC Magazine gives it 4 stars and Download.com give it 4.5 stars. After 30 days, it shuts down selected features, but will continue to run in 'free' mode".

Spyware Software
Spyware is any software program that secretly collects information from the computer on which it's installed and broadcasts the information back to an outside party that controls the program.

Spyware can cause increased spam or pop-up ads especially while other spyware programs can log your every keystroke or retrieve files on your PC—a serious threat to your privacy. And some of the most sophisticated spyware can continually mutate, making it difficult to remove.

CWShredder - CWShredder™ finds and destroys traces of CoolWebSearch. CoolWebSearch is a name given to a wide range of different browser hijackers. Though the code is very different between variants, they are all used to redirect users to coolwebsearch.com and other sites affiliated with its operators.

HijackThis - A general homepage hijackers detector and remover. Initially based on the article Hijacked!, but it has been expanded greatly. It is continually updated to detect and remove new hijacks. HijackThis scans your Windows computer to find settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware or other unwanted programs. HijackThis creates a report, or log file, with the results of the scan. It does not target specific programs/URLs, just the methods used by hijackers to force you onto their sites. As a result, false positives are imminent and unless you are sure what you're doing, you should always consult with knowledgable folks before deleting anything. It is strongly suggested to get expert help before using this program.

Antivirus Software
A software program designed to identify and remove a known or potential computer virus .

AntiVir Personal Edition - Provides security against viruses, worms and trojans: The Premium version expands the basic overall protection of the popular free-of-charge Classic version with a whole lot of useful security and comfort features.

AVG Anti-Virus - AVG Free Edition is available free-of-charge to home users! AVG Free Edition is for private, non-commercial, single home computer use only. Use of AVG Free Edition within any organization or for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited.

BitDefender Free Edition - BitDefender Free Edition is an on-demand virus scanner which incorpoorates the award-winning BitDefender scanning engines. For users unwilling to mess about with more complicated products, BitDefender Free Edition provides a modicum of security in exchange for no money at all.